Saturday, March 12, 2011

A Journey in Waffles

Waffles. Love 'em or hate 'em... Just kidding, I'm not going to start off like that, though my personal waffle history is one of both love and hate.

My family was never a waffle family. Waffles seem to be a particularly American thing: wikipedia support this view. For cooked breakfasts, we would have varieties on pancakes. Thin crepes with lemon juice and brown sugar, golden syrup or treacle, or, occasionally, maple syrup. Pikelets with butter, honey, or whipped cream and jam. The closest we had to waffles as children would have been from the Dutch side my my family: Stroopwafels, or "stroopies" as we called them. And they're not really waffles - they're biscuits.

I was first exposed to waffles as a teenager, when after sleeping over at a friend’s house she pulled out a waffle iron and whipped up a batch. I was fascinated by the waffle-making contraption, and it's fancy pattern (Scandinavian heart shaped waffles, from memory). They seemed easier and so much more exciting than pancakes. But not having waffles in my blood, I soon forgot about their exotic allure.

Flash forward about ten years, when I bought a 3-in-1 toasted sandwich maker, waffle iron, and grill. I only needed a toastie-maker, but this one was cheap! And multi-functional! I eventually remembered my initial excitement for waffles, and though disappointed that my waffle iron was in the relatively boring Belgian style, I decided to try to make waffles for myself.

I chose a recipe from the instruction manual: there were a few, but the one I chose was of an unleavened 'thin and crispy' variety. It looked simple, a good place to start. The recipe included cream. That made it sound fancy, and 'special'. But, I found it bland in texture, and far too rich and heavy in fat for my tastes. I should have expected it - I could never eat cream without feeling ill. Entirely unimpressed, I packed the waffle-iron plates away and stuck to toasted sandwiches.

Flash forward again - perhaps 5 years and a switch to gluten-free - to this week. I was flipping through the Healthy Food Guide looking for menu plan ideas, and came across a recipe for gluten-free waffles. The idea lingered in my mind: Waffles! I made them for brunch the next day.

As with my first cream-laden attempt, I should have known by looking at this recipe that they would be no good. My limited experience with gluten-free flour blends should have tipped me off to the idea that three ingredients alone - white rice flour, water/milk, and salt - would not make a good waffle. I thought at least that a waffle recipe should have eggs or baking powder in it - but I’ve never successfully made waffles, so how would I know?

As soon as I stirred the mix, I knew it was a mistake. The batter was pure white, as starchy mixes are, and the texture was too smooth. I persevered, but what came out of the waffle-maker was a thick, solid, unappetising gum. I ate it. Why? I was hungry, and my very last effort had gone into making those waffles. It was my penance for not recognising a bad recipe. I hate to waste food.

Bad Waffles

The offending waffles. I won't replicate the recipe here, for obvious reasons. While it's great that the Healthy Food Guide are starting to recognise and cater for people who eat gluten-free, I have given them honest feedback on this specific recipe.

Luckily, the internet is a wonderful resource for gluten-free eating, and a quick search brought up more options that looked much more promising. This morning I rolled up my sleeves, put on a my flour-dusted apron, and got to the business of making a decent waffle.

I settled on a recipe from Gluten Free Cooking School. I needed a recipe using flours that I had in my pantry, and though many good gluten-free recipes I see from the US contain sorghum and teff flour, I have never seen these in New Zealand. I follow the Gluten Free Cooking School blog, so I trusted that this recipe would be pretty good. Also, it looked right.

Good Waffles

Here is a link to the original recipe: Gluten Free Waffles. Despite having all the ingredients in general, I didn't quite have the right amounts, so tinkered with the recipe to suit: mostly the flour mix used. My version is published below.

If you have access to 'fancy' flours, you could also try these tempting recipes:

If you treat each 'part' as a quarter cup, you will have about a half-cup more flour mix than you need for this recipe.

Gluten Free Cooking School's original all-purpose flour blend is here, if you prefer. As I only had 1/4 cup of brown rice flour, the ground millet and white rice flour were added as substitutes. Cornmeal substituted some of the corn starch (cornflour in NZ), just in case the white rice flour had increased the starch content too much. I assumed that my masa de mais (for corn tortillas) was masa harina, but you never know.

* In New Zealand, a tablespoon is 15ml, though I understand that elsewhere it is 20ml. I don't think it matters in this case.

* The original recipe called for 230 g butter, and no oil. I only had 70 g butter, and when used oil to top-up I realised that this is a LOT of fat: feel free to use much less butter and/or oil to taste. I would recommend perhaps 1/2 cup / 100 g fat if you want a tasty but slightly lighter version. Also, I am constantly using this butter converter, because butter should be measured in grams, not tablespoons or sticks or cups, thankyouverymuch!

Instructions

Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs until frothy, and mix in milk.

Add melted butter and oil slowly and whisk.

Add wet ingredients to dry, and mix until large lumps are gone.

Heat waffle iron, and spray with a bit of canola oil to prevent sticking.

Pour about a half cup of batter into the waffle iron (adapt to size of iron).

Cook to the instructions of your waffle iron, or by instinct if you prefer.

When cooked, serve hot with your choice of delicious toppings. I had mine with banana and maple syrup, and a bit of cinnamon sugar. They were divine - soft, fluffy, tasty, crispy on the outside.

Topped Waffles

Fluffy Waffles

As this recipe made heaps of waffles, I froze some for Ron. You know - 'ron - Later'on - Well my dad used to say this and I alwasy thought it was hilarious, and apparently still do.

To freeze waffles, cool first on a wire rack, separate each waffle with a piece of wax paper, and freeze in freezer bags. Apparently, these heat well in the toaster for a super-quick breakfast.

Waffles for 'Ron

Holey Waffles

Waffles to Freeze

And on that note, stay safe, well, and happy. In New Zealand, we're still reeling from the February 22 quake in Christchurch, so our thoughts are with those in Japan and the Pacific affected by yesterday's 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis.

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About Me

I am: a foodie; a motorcyclist; a feminist; a pesca-vegetarian; an introvert; a student (even when I'm not); a partner; a sister and daughter; a roller-derby fan; a francophile; and trying my hardest to avoid FODMAPs.